The Saga of the Kindle wars!

In case you haven't noticed, the Amazon Kindle has lowered its price from $189 to $139.  This is because of the competition from Barnes and Nobles' Nook and other e-readers that are entering the market.  Well, the reason I am even talking about that here is because I got a Kindle for my birthday this year and I thought I would share my thoughts on this product here, in time for your Christmas shopping.


The kindle has many, many good points.  First it is very compact and lightweight.  Reading on the Kindle is very easy on both the eyes and the arms/hands.  You can carry your Kindle with you anywhere because it neatly fits in your purse or bag.  It's really easy to download books to the device.  And, in case you never watch television, you can easily read the Kindle in just about any bright light.

There are a few downsides to the Kindle, however.  First, the battery life is not what I would have expected.  Don't get me wrong, it has a fairly long life, but if you go a day or two between reads, you will need to recharge it first.  The Kindle doesn't get any blogs except for Amazon blogs, which sucks. 


But overall, I would have to give the Kindle a 9 out of 10 rating.

So, for your reader out there, you need to consider getting a Kindle for Christmas.  They will love you for it!

For more information about the Kindle you can visit  here  This site even has a video for you to see the various sizes of Kindle available and make a better choice.

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Christmas is coming, make no mistake. Time to get serious!

Here are a few YouTube videos to help kick-start the Christmas mood.  I know, I know.  We still have a few holidays before Christmas gets here, but I hope to help you get prepared early so you can enjoy the season.

Wednesday Shopping Wisdom --http://www.freeholidaygiftreview.com

Here's some words of wisdom to consider when shopping for presents this year,
courtesy of FreeHolidayGift Review.com:

Top 10 things to consider when purchasing a gift for someone.

 

#10-  The gender for whom you are purchasing the gift. 

Although this could be a non-issue, it most likely is not.

#9-  The chronological age for whom you are purchasing the gift.

So this refers to what their actual age is.  You%u2019re certainly not going to purchase the same thing for someone who is 50 as opposed to 15 (unless it is golf balls or similar nature)  So this requires a little thinking.

#8-   The mental age of whom you are purchasing the gift.

This refers to how young they feel at heart.  Again, let's be considering the person's age but be cautious of purchasing items TOO young or TOO old for what the person FEELS like they are.

#7-  The occasion for which you are purchasing the gift.

Are you purchasing something for a birthday, Christmas or say, VALENTINE'S DAY?  These will all have different angles from which to make your purchase.

#6-  Have you purchased for them before?

Is this a first purchase because they're a new boy/girl friend?  If so, be careful to not say the 'wrong' thing by purchasing something too 'cheap'.

#5-  How well did that previous purchase go?

Did your last purchase make a good impression?  Or do you need to 'make up' for your last purchase?  (talking to the guys here)

#4-  How much money do you have to spend?

Maybe this should be slightly higher in the rank but non-the-less, it does come into play in what you%u2019re going to purchase.

#3-  Their relation to you.

Are we talking about a friend?  A close friend?  Brother/Sister? Wife/Husband?  You get the picture.  Make sure you're thinking about this!

#2-  What do you want this gift to 'say' to them?

This could be a trade-off with #1.  If you're merely saying 'I like you' then keep that in mind.  If you're trying to say 'I REALLY like you', then obviously that changes things up a bit.  Now if you're wanting to say 'I love you,' well then, you'd better step up to the plate and hit one out of the park!

#1-  Do you want them to remember this gift forever?

This could go a lot of different directions in terms of them remembering forever.  You could step off the cliff face and be remembered for something permanently going to 'leave a mark'!  Or you could do something crazy like a 'gag' that would be remembered forever.  Now going this route could still be 'stepping off a cliff' b

you have to determine that yourself. 

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Tuesday Tutorial -- Scandinavian Reindeer

 This is a wonderful Christmas Craft that you could begin making now to help get you in the Christmas spirit.  This is a textile craft and I think every child on your list would love to have their very own reindeer to cuddle while they wait for Santa to arrive, don't you?  Who knows, you could make a few just for yourself to cuddle too.

This craft can be found here along with many, many other wonderful crafts.  Please visit the site and try some of them out.  Let me know what you make and how it turns out, won't you?

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Adults and children alike will be unable to resist the charm of this soft toy—you just want to pick it up and squeeze it! The embroidered decoration is a simple back stitch. You can change the size of the toy by enlarging or reducing the size of the templates, but do not make it too small as the antlers will be difficult to turn out.

 

Taken from Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs, photography by Carolyn Barber and illustration by Kate Simunek, published by CICO Books. Text copyright Clare Youngs. Images copyright CICO Books.

• 

  Enlarge the reindeer templates by 200 percent, transfer onto the boiled wool fabric, and cut out.
  
  

• 

  Using dressmaker’s carbon paper, transfer the embroidery pattern onto the white felt semicircles. Embroider the motif in back stitch and French knots, alternating between pink and orange as shown in the photo, below, and using three strands of floss (cotton). For the reindeer’s eyes, work three orange French knots close together, using all six strands of floss (cotton).
  
  

• 

  With right sides together, pin one felt semicircle to each body piece, easing the fabric around the curve. Baste (tack) and machine stitch.
  
  

  • 

• • 

    With right sides together, pin and machine stitch one hoof section to the bottom of each inner leg piece.
    
    

  • 

    

    With right sides together, pin and machine stitch one hoof section to the bottom of each leg on the two body pieces.
    
    

  • 

    

    With right sides together, pin and machine stitch the inner legs to the two body pieces along the side and bottom edges.
    
    

    • 

      

      With right sides together, pin the underbelly to the two body pieces, taking care at each end to finish the stitching in a point. Baste (tack) and machine stitch, leaving a gap in the seam at the top of one of the front legs to turn the reindeer right side out.
      
      

    • 

      

      Starting where the inner legs join the body, pin and machine stitch the front and back together. Match up the line of stitching and carry on around, taking particular care on the curves of the antlers.
      
      

    • 

      Starting with the antlers, turn the reindeer right side out. Use the handle of a long, thin paintbrush to help ease the tips of the antlers out. Stuff the toy, using the paintbrush handle to get the stuffing right up to the ends of the antlers and taking care to keep the stuffing firm at the top of the legs.
      
      

    • 

    Turn under the raw edges at the gap in the front leg seam and slipstitch the gap closed.

If you are buying for a pet lover this year, you should check out the bargains to be found at The Animal Rescue Site.  There are gifts for just about anyone on your list.  You can check out Global Girlfriend and purchase items on your list that will help support women artisans in struggling nations.  Your purchase will help shelters and animal rescue groups throughout the nation.  Check it out!  You have everything to gain and so do the animals and people being helped by this wonderful organization.

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Image via Wikipedia

Here's a video I found that helps you understand how to plan for the holidays in advance.  This is just the first video in the series, so I suggest you visit the site and watch the rest.  They are pretty good, but not all inclusive of the planning that you need to do.  Overall, these videos are a good beginning spot.  Enjoy!
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 Christmas is a time for family and rejoicing, for celebrating the good things we have in life. Christmas is also the time during which retailers and advertisers bombard the senses, desperate to get those dollars you've worked so hard for. But unless you're okay with losing a few friends, and possibly being ignored by a few family members, you are hopelessly obligated to get something for everyone you expect to speak to for the next year or so. Shopping for Christmas gifts can be source of extreme stress, trying to stretch your limited budget and still pay the bills. But Expert Village offers these free videos to help you create and execute a holiday spending plan that won't leave you eating nothing but black eyed peas for the entire month of January. Expert Melissa Schenk will teach you how to budget your holiday spending, first by making a Christmas shopping list, setting a limit on Christmas spending, and how to fine-tune your budget by brainstorming for gift ideas and separating your gift spending from your other holiday expenses. You'll also learn how to resist the temptation of buying for yourself when shopping for gifts. Skipping the expensive Christmas cards and fancy gift wrap are also great ways to save money this holiday season.

Read more: How to Crate a Holiday Spending Budget: How to Cut Down on Holiday Spending | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2371317_crate-holiday-spending-budget.html#ixzz0tba4Qg1e

How to Crate a Holiday Spending Budget -- powered by eHow.com

Strategies For Planning For Early Christmas Shopping

Image via Wikipedia

Here is an article I found on Barbieinablender, which is a site that posts information about women's fashion and issues affecting women.  The actual article can be found here.  I think there are several really good tips for those who want to be organized and who want to shop early.  What do you think?  Will this work for you?

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Shopping early for the Christmas is always a good idea because you will find yourself ahead of vast majority of the crowds that only start their shopping when Christmas is just days or weeks away. Shoppers and other people generally will be green in envy this holiday season knowing that you are way ahead of them in your shopping for the Christmas and in fact, already finished your shopping by then. Having said that, you do not need to worry about getting stuck in the traffic jam on the way to the shopping centers and malls that are crowded with mostly last minute shoppers days before the Christmas day.

For those of you who appreciate the advantages of getting ready for your early Christmas shopping, I am certain that you have developed your own means of planning and accomplishing for your Christmas celebration. Meanwhile, for the rest of you who belong to the last minute shoppers group in organizing the Christmas shopping, you will be provided with some tips on early Christmas shopping for this year.

Planning for the Christmas shopping for the following year right after the Christmas this year is an excellent strategy that you can attempt to allow you to start and finish your Christmas shopping early. These methods have been adopted by many with extra disposable income. The pros about shopping few days just after the Christmas are twofold: Firstly, shopping right after Christmas can be enjoyable in the Christmas atmosphere. While the shops and shopping malls and centers may still be very crowded on these days, nevertheless, you can slow down your pace to enjoy the shopping in a more relaxed manner. Secondly, with grand sales still going on, you are in it for shopping big times and very likely, a great saving for your shopping.

The next big thing about getting your Christmas shopping done earlier is through purchasing online at the comfort of your home. Imagine that you can make purchases for the variety of goods and gifts online ranging from toys, fruits, wine, gift baskets, flowers and so forth at a click of your finger and the gifts will be wrapped brilliantly and delivered according to your instruction. The convenience of shopping online removes you of the need to worry over the wrapping process or long queue wait at post offices at some reasonable charges for the service. Therefore, if you like the idea of online Christmas shopping, remember to commit yourself to perform your purchases early in order to avoid disappointment due to short of stock or late shipment.

The other way to approach planning and shopping for your early Christmas this year would be purchasing at least two gifts for each of the person on your name list for their coming birthdays. The idea behind this is that while one gift serves as a birthday gift for the intended recipient, the second gift would be set aside as his or her Christmas gift. Not only would this allows you to break away from the crowd that swamps the shopping malls and stores near the Christmas seasons, sometimes, early shopping allows you to grab better and ideal gift which is difficult to come across at certain times of the year. I come across people who get agitated and stressful when it comes so close to Christmas that they have troubles finding the perfect gift for everyone in their name lists after hitting the shopping malls times after times. There is really no need to be in such a rush for the Christmas shopping should you have prepared earlier for your Christmas shopping and would have finished your purchases when the Christmas season arrives. Despite this, if you happen to encounter people on your name list with birthdays in December, that may mean some last minute shopping but what you can do is to mark down these people and plan the purchases of their birthday and Christmas gifts a month or few months earlier.

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